We can now say that the comic book movie game has officially changed. The recent release of Deadpool has proven that an R-rating no longer ensures a financial or critical death sentence, and as a result filmmakers have now looked into taking numerous other properties and giving them the R-rated treatment. One of the obvious choices for this treatment is the upcoming supervillain team-up movie Suicide Squad. However, according to producer Charles Roven, the film will work just fine the confines of a PG-13 rating.
Speaking with EW, Suicide Squad producer Charles Roven addressed the film’s rating:
I think right now we’re going for the PG-13. I don’t know that that’s going to materially change. We can give that movie the edge that it needs and still maintain a PG-13.
So as of now it looks as though Suicide Squad will stick with the tried and true method of going for the PG-13 rating for a superhero movie. In all honesty, this seems like a safer and smarter route for the villain film to take. A filmmaker should not strive to attain an R-rating simply for the sake of an R-rating. PG-13 represents an endlessly flexible – if imperfect – ratings system that allows for directors to get away with quite a lot on screen.
Think about a movie like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight; it’s a damn near perfect piece of dark cinema, and a superhero movie, that told an amazing story through the lens of a PG-13 rating. Even the recent announcement that Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice would receive an R-rated Director’s Cut has been met with a mixed response; some people have rejoiced, while other people consider it a wholly unnecessary adjustment. With the DC Extended Universe still in its infancy, Warner Bros. really needs to tread lightly and make sure they establish a strong universe before taking too many risks.
In many ways, Deadpool represents a unique situation. While certain characters like Wolverine and Deathstroke could most certainly benefit from an R-rating, that doesn’t mean every comic book movie with a hint of darkness to it needs that rating to succeed. Just look at the trailer for Suicide Squad below. We haven’t seen the movie yet, but David Ayer seems to have found the perfect tone and style that stays within a PG-13 boundary:
Do you think Suicide Squad should strive for a hard R-rating, or will it work within the PG-13 system? We will keep you updated with all of the latest and greatest Suicide Squad news as it becomes available to us. Suicide Squad will break into theaters late this summer on August 5.
